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Barcelona Open: Rafael Nadal SURVIVES epic battle during opener

By Harry Floyd

BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 24: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand against Leonardo Mayer of the Argentina during the round of 32 match on day two of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at Real Club De Tenis Barcelona on April 24, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - APRIL 24: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand against Leonardo Mayer of the Argentina during the round of 32 match on day two of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at Real Club De Tenis Barcelona on April 24, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal is back in action during the clay court season at the 2019 Barcelona Open. He manages to survive his opener.

After falling to eventual Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini last week, Rafael Nadal is back in action at the 2019 Barcelona Open. The 11-time champion in men’s singles is also a three-peat champ at the tournament in Barcelona and is out to make it four straight.

An opening round matchup against Argentine tennis player Leonardo Mayer, however, revealed that Nadal is still being tested on clay this year. Still though, Nadal does survive the meeting…

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Rafa comes away with a tough three-set victory over Mayer. He wins their round of 32 match, going 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2. Nadal was the first to admit that it was NOT his best start to the tournament action at the 2019 Barcelona Open.

All that matters though, is that Nadal found his rhythm throughout the match and progressed as he went on. Despite early struggles against the Argentine veteran, Rafa moves on and will face David Ferrer of Spain next.

The two are among the most recognizable names of men’s singles players from the country and should put on an incredible match next.

Nadal has scoreboard over Ferrer, but his fellow countryman has won six times throughout their careers. That said, the 11-time Barcelona Open champ is 25-6 against Ferrer. We like Rafa moving forward, especially after he collected himself and cruised through the final two sets with Mayer.

Ferrer could pose a threat a he’s coming off of big wins over the likes of both Mischa Zverev and Lucas Pouille. Interestingly enough, both of those wins came as straight set 6-3, 6-1 victories. He needs to repeat his stellar performances though against Nadal if he hopes to advance.

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Elsewhere at the 2019 Barcelona Open, the second seed has been OUSTED. Rising ATP tennis star Alexander Zverev sees an early exit yet again, this time falling to Nicolás Jarry of Chile. He drops a hard fought three-set match to Jarry. Stay tuned to see how Nadal and others still alive fare moving forward at Barcelona.

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